Five years later, how do we feel about TMNT (2007)?
 

I know it's had threads in the past, but I just watched it the other day and haven't seen much discussion of it lately. It definitely doesn't receive as much attention as the '90s trilogy (maybe that says something).

So, it's been five years since TMNT hit theaters. How's it holding up?

On the whole, I'm actually a lot more entertained by it now than I once was. The quick 'n' dirty:

Pros:

• The animation is beautiful. Everything is extremely detailed, and it's aged incredibly well. In fact, I can't really picture it aging badly; everything seems to look as good as it could. I think most people will agree this is the movie's strongest point.
• Great design for the Turtles (your mileage may vary).
• Good casting and acting all around (Karai's Chinese accent not withstanding).
• Family-centric arc for the Turtles is well done
• The best version of Raph and Leo throwing down in the franchise
• Brings Karai and a Shredder-less Foot to the screen, which is ballsier than it should be.
• Moments of subtle character humor work well
• Feels like a decent issue of Tales

Cons

• Dat plot
• Dat name-zipping-across-the-screen thing ("It's a comic-book movie. It's what you do." -- Kevin Munroe, commentary track)
• Dat is-it-a-sequel? thing
• Seriously, the plot; why are there thirteen monsters if we barely see four?
• "J.D., our editor, and I are both big fans of wipes." -- Kevin Munroe, commentary track
• "When it came back PG, I think we all cheered." -- Kevin Munroe, commentary track
  (Not listed because it wasn't the "adult" Turtles movie I wanted, but because the studio deeming a PG movie would be more marketable than PG-13 in the peak of PG-13 comic-book movie hype is indicative of the back-assward decision-making that seemed to be going on behind the scenes.)
• For every subtle bit of character humor, there're two juvenile burp jokes.
• Human characters use extremely derivative, Pixar-styled designs that both date the movie and look out of place against each other and the realistic backdrops.
• Feels like a decent issue of Tales
• Is absolutely not the movie we should've gotten in 2007

That's pretty much it. It's objectively the second best (you could probably make an argument for best) Turtles movie, but that's almost damning with faint praise.

It's enjoyable as a fan, but kind of leaves you scratching your head as to why it was made. And would I ever come back to it if I weren't a fan? It's decent fun, so I don't know; maybe in an if-it-happens-to-be-on-TV sense.

It's alright. I agree that it makes me wonder why it was made, but it was OK nonetheless. I just wish it had more Mikey and Donnie.

While my favorite is the first movie and unless this new one comes out and changes it, always will be. That being said, I end up watching the 07 movie a ton. My 2 year old (when I get him to actually watch anything Ninja Turtles) always picks it. So, I do like the movie. I haven't watched the commentaries so I can't speak on that, but I do agree with all of your pros and cons. Best part of the movie and I'm sure a good bit do agree, is the Raph and Leo fight. I do have to add to some cons though, and that is the fact that Mike and Don just don't have enough development at all.

Edit: forgot this.

Going along with the is this a sequel thing. Is it? Is it supposed to tale place after 3? Also it almost feels like it could be a 2k3 movie.

It felt like it could have been a 3 part episode of the 4kids series. The monster plot in the movie fit right in with the typical 4kids mutants and monsters arcs.

I like it still. The animation and the way the Turtles are handled are the strongest aspects, IMO. However, when I look back on it now, I do see it as a bit of a cop-out by the studio, WB. If they really wanted to resurrect TMNT they should have done so in live-action. Instead, they went for the cheaper alternative. It didn’t pan out. Also, I still think the actual story itself is way too juvenile. Almost childish, actually.

Same thing I thought back then.... other than the cool designs for Ninja April, Casey and Karai (wardrobe-wise anyway), and the Raph VS Leo fight... the rest of the movie was a big waste of time.

i like the storyline. i don't care wut some ppl think abt it. i just like the plot its fun its cohere its awesome.

It didn't feel like a movie, it felt like a DTV or multi-parter, there was too much plot like you mentioned why go into the story of monsters if they hardly appeared and only took time, any other plot device would've worked better, if it had been a season arc then yeah the 13 monsters thing might've been a good idea but they take a lot of time setting the monsters thing up for it to become something rather irrelevant. The actual plot is just ok, and that's not what the turtles needed, they needed something big to make a big comeback. It felt like "another" adventure for these turtles but we needed something different, most people needed something different.

The movie was CG and had no shredder, it dealt with aztec stone leaders and monsters. It had been over a decade since the last turtles movie, most were turned off including me by it being CG, and while some were happy Shredder wasn't in it, I can understand when he just appeared but this was a reboot we wanted to see a new version it had been a long ass time since he appeared in movies. The CG alone turned off most adults being nostalgic about it and dismissing it as a kids movie which to their defense it was.

Other than that I loved the movie, even with the lackluster plot it was still a fun adventure for them even if it didn't live up to it being a movie. While the Leo/Raph grudge might be overdone in most turtle media I absolutely loved their take here. The CG is indeed beautiful, a shame we'll never see these characters or CG with the turtles again, I would've loved a sequel, hell if it had made just a bit more money we would've likely gotten a third Imagi TMNT movie by now.

The movie was definitely handled badly and filled with missed opportunities but overall it's a good entry into the turtles franchise and doesn't deserve the recent hate it gets.

i liked the monster plot. i think the reason why shredder's not included is that the story is set at the point where the turtles r retired long after shredder'd been gone.

Shredder is gone because it was a loose continuation of the past films and cartoons. The movie prequel books Mirage put out also have the Turtles mention they've fought the Triceratons and Utroms.

its actually alot better than lots other animated movies these days... talkin abt cgi moives these days, give me a headache...:tgrumble:

My feelings have not changed. It's meh. Too much going on at once plotwise. Great animation, poor designs.

It's been quite awhile since I've watched it, but (that's never stopped me before!)...

The biggest Pro I have for this movie is the voice-over acting. Anyone who knows me (which seems to be NO ONE in this place anymore) knows that voices in animated movies are really important to me. I thought they were great in this movie.

It was a 'safe' movie. No pushing any boundaries, nothing breathtaking, nothing like that. I like the movie. I could've done without it being so much of a kids movie, what with the influx of great adaptations of former 'kids' franchises (which I think we desperately deserve).

Not enough Don or Mike, but they were good while they were in it. Love the 'Black Betty' song scene with Raph; always will. A teeny bit too much emphasis on the Leo/Raph thing, but that'll never change so it didn't bug me too awful much.

pretty much this.

I would only re-watch it for the animation, some of the jokes are kinda funny though, like Don's tech support.

This movie is such an oddball in the TMNT multiverse. Other than the main cast and Karai, no one else in the movie is familiar. There are too many TMNT characters with untapped potential (Shredder included), so it bugs me that they were creating (lame) original characters/ideas like Max Winters, Nightwatcher, etc.

Donnie did nothing, Mike wasn't really funny, Leo was a self-contradicting turd, Raph was too hellbent on fighting crime. Casey's "growing up" storyline was mega lame, they totally got him all wrong. Don't even get me started on Splinter.

And the whole "loose sequel" thing just came off as laziness, to me.


For the most part yes, but their faces looked a little too lizard-like and I HATE how the headbands are rigid and don't hug the shape of their heads.

The CG was great though. Watch this on blu-ray and it's even more evident. The weapons and shells look almost real.

And casting was good.

First of all, in 2007 when I was still in my dark fandom phase and saw some reviews that the new movie "brings nostalgia and a great reintroduction to TMNT", I felt turned off when I saw the CGI since I was used to either live action or 2D animation for the most part. Still, this movie feels like an orphan compared to the rest of the expanded universe, and I just don't see it as canon with anything else, including the '90s films, given the difference in the Turtles/April's character designs as well as having Karai coming out of nowhere without an introduction with the Foot. In fact I could better see NTNM as canon to the first three films than this movie is to them. That said, it is still relevant in that the animation is better than what Nick has provided with its new series, James Arnold Taylor has perhaps the best Leonardo voice, and the other Turtles and Splinter are also very well voiced, though I'll admit Chris Evans and especially Sarah Michelle Gellar as Casey and April aren't the best voices for those characters, sounding too bland at times. Overall, TMNT 2007 can pass as a well-done fan creation, much like the Casey Jones movie that is a good watch if you don't want a long canon to follow. Every fan should have a copy in their collection.

The story I always tell about TMNT is that I saw it four times on the day it came out. Four times and I loved it every single one of them not once did I walk out saying I had been wrong, it wasn't as good as I thought it was. I legitimately walked into and out of that movie at the same level of excitement each time.

That being said even though I saw the movie that many times there are only a few things that I actually remember about the movie and all of them include Raph. The diner scene with the Jersey Devil, Kevin Smith, and the cover of Black Betty; A beautifully animated scene where Leonardo and Raphael come to blows (seriously having it raining was pure genius); The fact that the "13th Monster" was already shown as captured; and the subtle reveal that this was actually a sequel to the first three movies. That is what I remember, brief moments of the film.

The unfortunate thing is that even though it might not be memorable to me. I have to admit that it was a very good Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies. It will never replace the first movie as my favorite, but when it comes to a representation of what the Turtles actually experience in the comics the stories of this and TMNT 3 hit the nail squarely on the top of the head.

The TMNT are not heroes, they are just these guys trying to make it in the world who are thrust into insane situations and have the ability to overcome them. This movie demonstrates that perfectly. They aren't actively looking to solve a milleniums old mystery regarding Monsters and Immortals, but when it comes down to it they are willing to lend a hand.

I think what might be the issue the movie really feels more like Max Winter's story and the Turtles just happen to be there. Which is acceptable in an issue of Tales but just doesn't work as the plot of a major motion picture.

See, I actually don't mind Nightwatcher as an addition to the Turtles mythos. I just wish the movie were more clear about the fact that Raphael is going way outside family protocol by doing what he does. (Again, listening to Munroes' commentary, it seems this was the intent.)

Most of the conversations in the movie give the impression that these Turtles were always patrolling the streets, fighting crime, then suddenly stopped, and are for some reason angry at Raphael for doing the same thing solo and in a costume.

I do wonder why they came up with Max Winters and the Stone generals when instead they could have done a movie about Baxter, Leatherhead or Rat King...or all 3 together.

Karai and the Foot being the only familiar villains was indeed odd. Funny thing is Peter Laird put Volume 4 on hiatus to work with Kevin Munroe on the script for this movie.

I still enjoy the film, it's a guilty pleasure for me, but I do see some of the criticisms as some here have already pointed out.

-The plot was definitly all over the place.
-Winters and the 4 Generals were kinda weak as villains and characters. My biggest beef was how the film supposedly builds up to Winters being the big bad guy and him still wanting to rule the world by re-gathering the monsters when it was obvious from the start of the film he was trying to atone his mistake.
-Mikey and Don definetly got the short end of the stick in terms of screentime and relevance in favor of the Leo vs Raph dynamic the film was going with.
-Leo was a bit self-contradictory during his time in South America. It's said he was sent there to do training so he'd be a better leader for his brothers and how he can't can't go back a failure. But as soon as he says this, he then brings up how the villagers need him more than his brothers do. Well, that just beats the whole point of you being here to begin with, isn't it?

Anything else was good. The animation, dialouge and fight scenes were above average. I still think it holds up fairly well after 5 years.